Speaking of car weights, I had my 325i weighed when I was at Roebling Road a couple of months ago -

Just the car (no driver) -

LF 799 RF 859
LR 847 RR 828

total weight - 3333 lbs

Front - 49.74%
Rear - 50.26%

Left - 49.38%
Right - 50.62%

Just for reference, my car is completely stock, except that I've replaced the tires with Michelin PS2's (non-run flat). At the time of the weighing, I had most of a tank of gas, no floor mats, completely empty car, except my Continental emergency air pump was still in the trunk wrapped in a towel.

The 325i may be down on power, but it's down on weight too, compared to other E90s that is. On the few occasions that we've had 335i's show up at our autocrosses, I've been at least two seconds quicker, but seat time probably made the biggest difference.

Anyone mention airbags yet? I think the car has six of them (the four beams, steering wheel, passenger dash). I remember hearing somewhere that airbags and their deployment units are pretty heavy for their size, in general, although I've never handled one.

Let's say, on the heavy side, that they're ten pounds each. Removing the four beams would then be forty pounds off - essentially bringing your car back to 1990's safety. Dropping them all off, say for autocross, sixty pounds. ALL of this above the cars center of gravity.

If the ten pound estimate of weight per is about right (again, I'm not positive), I think this would actually be noticeable in cornering at the extremes.

Just a thought. I probably wouldn't do this myself: 1) Because I don't want the damn things blowing up in my face, 2) I don't know how to wire them to read still present and not give you a continual CEL, 3) accidents, especially with passengers. But, if it were easy to do/undo, I'd at least look into it for the pillars.

Also, our 335i's have some heavy-duty foldable crush beams in the doors, don't they? If these don't serve a structural purpose for non-accident conditions, removing them would be another safety vs. performance trade-off for the track.

All I know is If I wanted to get a track car I'd have bought an Elise. I don't see the point of tearing your interior to pieces thats ridiculous.Why buy a BMW? CF hood/parts that replace something I can understand wheels or ligther pieces that replace something. Maybe even nice seats depending if they match but just gutting your car is retarded just trade it in and be done with it.It looks gross.

All I know is If I wanted to get a track car I'd have bought an Elise. I don't see the point of tearing your interior to pieces thats ridiculous.Why buy a BMW? CF hood/parts that replace something I can understand wheels or ligther pieces that replace something. Maybe even nice seats depending if they match but just gutting your car is retarded just trade it in and be done with it.It looks gross.

All I know is If I wanted to get a track car I'd have bought an Elise. I don't see the point of tearing your interior to pieces thats ridiculous.Why buy a BMW? CF hood/parts that replace something I can understand wheels or ligther pieces that replace something. Maybe even nice seats depending if they match but just gutting your car is retarded just trade it in and be done with it.It looks gross.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TTBM

+1 if you bought the 335 for tracking you made a mistake

Usually, the people who make posts like these are the ones who never track their cars (regardless of what it is) ever.

EWWWWWWWW..it looks gross! boohoohoo Everyone has different priorities, I say do what you want, it's your car.

Also, the feel of BMWs is a preference as well. And the 335 is very capable on the track, I don't see why it should stay away from it.

Elises are great cars, but they need a bit more power, not to mention a 335 is a way better dual-purpose than an Elise.

LOL, you're funny. I bought the 335 because I'm a college kid that wanted a fun practical car and I've always had BMW and always loved the BMW drive. I (unfortunately) got the sedan because it's practical. I (sort of fortunately) got xDrive because I live in Rochester (i.e. snowville). I got the 335 because when I heard BMW was putting parallel twin turbos on one of their already fantastic engines I think I wet myself. I went to my first track event in the 335 and was hooked. So my thinking is that if I can make my daily driver PERMANENTLY perform better than why not? Of course at this point the logical decision is to do things like...suspension, wheels, and sticky tires and such to have some fun at BMWCCA and keep daily driving nice, and get a light track car (read beater car) for NASA and the like.

shimshimhada, thanks for the info. I'll definitely play around to get something sorta kinda like that on track days :-P My girlfriend would kill me if my car ever looked like that when she was around though.

Don, I think I'm looking at SSR Type C RS with Kumho Ecsta MX. I think I'll be able to use that setup as a track/summer setup to ease into track tires as I'm not sure if I'm perfectly comfortable putting myself on R comps just yet. I've recently gotten more serious about brewing beer at home and thus most of my money has been shifted from my car to my budding nano brewery Come spring (after 2 jobs) I'll have plenty of money to spend on tracking though, so wheels will come then.

sflgator, I agree that it's harder to remove weight, but I'm a strong believer in starting with a strong foundation. I am in computational mathematics and even when programming I always do foundation (platform) first and then add power (efficiency). I'd rather have a light, well handling car with normal power (hell the engine is good enough already ) than a heavy, poor handling car with a ton of power. Once I am more comfortable with my platform (get rid of the slight boat feeling), then I'll add a nice piggyback, etc. I've actually stopped myself from buying downpipes like...two weeks ago. So I'll probably end up with at least those by next month or something :-P

LOL, you're funny. I bought the 335 because I'm a college kid that wanted a fun practical car and I've always had BMW and always loved the BMW drive. I (unfortunately) got the sedan because it's practical. I (sort of fortunately) got xDrive because I live in Rochester (i.e. snowville). I got the 335 because when I heard BMW was putting parallel twin turbos on one of their already fantastic engines I think I wet myself. I went to my first track event in the 335 and was hooked. So my thinking is that if I can make my daily driver PERMANENTLY perform better than why not? Of course at this point the logical decision is to do things like...suspension, wheels, and sticky tires and such to have some fun at BMWCCA and keep daily driving nice, and get a light track car (read beater car) for NASA and the like.

shimshimhada, thanks for the info. I'll definitely play around to get something sorta kinda like that on track days :-P My girlfriend would kill me if my car ever looked like that when she was around though.

Don, I think I'm looking at SSR Type C RS with Kumho Ecsta MX. I think I'll be able to use that setup as a track/summer setup to ease into track tires as I'm not sure if I'm perfectly comfortable putting myself on R comps just yet. I've recently gotten more serious about brewing beer at home and thus most of my money has been shifted from my car to my budding nano brewery Come spring (after 2 jobs) I'll have plenty of money to spend on tracking though, so wheels will come then.

sflgator, I agree that it's harder to remove weight, but I'm a strong believer in starting with a strong foundation. I am in computational mathematics and even when programming I always do foundation (platform) first and then add power (efficiency). I'd rather have a light, well handling car with normal power (hell the engine is good enough already ) than a heavy, poor handling car with a ton of power. Once I am more comfortable with my platform (get rid of the slight boat feeling), then I'll add a nice piggyback, etc. I've actually stopped myself from buying downpipes like...two weeks ago. So I'll probably end up with at least those by next month or something :-P

[quote=shimshimhada;1795131]Usually, the people who make posts like these are the ones who never track their cars (regardless of what it is) ever.

its funny how you assume that someone doesnt track their car because they think the 335 isnt a good track car, its a great car and could be better with upgraded suspension and so on. I myself have tracked many cars at willow springs mostly m3's set up for track use only. so dont make stupid assumptions about someone you dont know

its funny how you assume that someone doesnt track their car because they think the 335 isnt a good track car, its a great car and could be better with upgraded suspension and so on. I myself have tracked many cars at willow springs mostly m3's set up for track use only. so dont make stupid assumptions about someone you dont know

Then since you track cars, it makes your previous post even more ridiculous. Participators of the sport shouldn't discourage others based on what cars they have, they should encourage them to be involved regardless.

I'll keep making assumptions, as long as I browse the far reaches of online forums. What else am I supposed to do? Find you in person and ask about your life story over some tea and crumpets? Oh wait, you live in Cali, I'm assuming you prefer boba?

Hey Guys,
So, at the last autocross I went to, a WRX STI demolished every BMW in its tracks. The STI is 3300 lbs. My brother has been eyeballing a Porsche Cayman S and will probably be getting one before next autocross season, and I'm trying to get him into autocross. The Cayman S is 3000 lbs. My roommate drives a Nissan 240sx. 2800lbs

Now, I drive a 6MT 335xi E90. 3800lbs. My brother has pretty much always beat me at everything (except anything technical but that's a whole nother story for a whole nother day), so I'm looking to drop some weight from my car.

Hopefully this thread will stand as a central place to find where to drop weight from our cars. I'm looking to drop at least 200 lbs while still "feeling" stock and being daily drivable....i.e. while keeping my girlfriend from killing me every time she gets in my car Maybe in a year or so I'll jump for nice racing seats reupholstered to match my Terra but that's a bit too deep for my pockets atm. So by daily drivable I mean keep all audio/nav components, A/C, etc.

I fully understand that this is sort of ridiculous so please do not flame me, if you don't have anything helpful to say relating to this issue please do not post. I also fully understand that our cars aren't necessarily designed to be light and aren't the greatest to start with if looking for light. I ALSO understand that weight isn't everything, but hell WHY NOT drop a few pounds right? I'm already on a diet

Here's what I have found so far, although I don't know of most of the exact weight savings numbers... I don't know if I will personally be able to get well....any of these before next season but if I can get an idea I might be able to scrap some together :-P

Anyone know of any other permanentish mods that dump weight without damaging daily drivability? Preferably the mods would be in the front to dampen that 53/47 or so split we have going.

Thanks,
Dave

exhaust system without the cat at all will reduce you about 30 lbs. you might just want to add dp. intake. fmic. CF bumper. Disconnect all of your accessories on the car.. You see when you have all the package on the car. it use energy to turn it on. Horsepower is energy. Any accessories on the car will rob your hp away from you. for example. when your turn on your A/C During summer or heater during winter season. YOu are actually robbing your hp away from the engine to make it turn on so you can enjoy life. lol Each accessories will have OEM spec how much it will rob HP away from you.. What do you Lotus car only come with optional A/C... Duh it is so obvious they want this car to have less electronic stuff on it.. It Can travel fast.

one other thing i forgot to mention. Rule of thumb is When you are removing something to the front. you need to remove something in the rear also. SO the car have even distrubution wieght. so you wont flip your car on high speed ride. lol

Speaking of car weights, I had my 325i weighed when I was at Roebling Road a couple of months ago -

Just the car (no driver) -

LF 799 RF 859
LR 847 RR 828

total weight - 3333 lbs

Front - 49.74%
Rear - 50.26%

Left - 49.38%
Right - 50.62%

Just for reference, my car is completely stock, except that I've replaced the tires with Michelin PS2's (non-run flat). At the time of the weighing, I had most of a tank of gas, no floor mats, completely empty car, except my Continental emergency air pump was still in the trunk wrapped in a towel.

The 325i may be down on power, but it's down on weight too, compared to other E90s that is. On the few occasions that we've had 335i's show up at our autocrosses, I've been at least two seconds quicker, but seat time probably made the biggest difference.

Then since you track cars, it makes your previous post even more ridiculous. Participators of the sport shouldn't discourage others based on what cars they have, they should encourage them to be involved regardless.

I'll keep making assumptions, as long as I browse the far reaches of online forums. What else am I supposed to do? Find you in person and ask about your life story over some tea and crumpets? Oh wait, you live in Cali, I'm assuming you prefer boba?

i never discouraged anyone tracking is just for fun if your not doing it professionally. haha you keep making assumptions they might get you more post since you have nothing better to do besides post comments like a loser behind your computer. oh yeah and you should come down to cali id show you how we do things down here

hey guys can we keep things friendly in here, I really wanted this to be an informational thread and it seems we are slowly gaining at least a bit of ground in that respect. So please, no assumptions or retaliations or whatever....just....fat gorillas and how to remove them?

You know, I didn't even really think about it but say that DP+intake+FMIC+....CF bumper/hood maybe reduces front weight by 50 lbs total (probably a stretch there but what the hell). You are gaining power and saving weight so from a...how do I remove weight from the front perspective (after or while changing wheels of course), those are actually even more viable and even more important than I thought. I mean, I knew they did something weight wise, it just didn't click how much else they did. Great, those are #3 on my list after suspension and wheels. And that even sticks with my foundation obsession Maybe I'll actually be able to get my sedan to a 50/50 split :-P

i never discouraged anyone tracking is just for fun if your not doing it professionally. haha you keep making assumptions they might get you more post since you have nothing better to do besides post comments like a loser behind your computer. oh yeah and you should come down to cali id show you how we do things down here

WHAT are you going on about? What's all this talk about tracking professionally and whatnot?

Maybe you have a hard time understanding the concept of internet forums and jokes involving boba.

You can e-thug all you want, I'm not one to get antsy over a little personal reference.

Back to the original topic, longodj, you can remove some more weight getting additional ltw suspension components as control arms. As for nonsusp frontal weight reduction, stuff like headers I imagine would help.

Usually, the people who make posts like these are the ones who never track their cars (regardless of what it is) ever.

EWWWWWWWW..it looks gross! boohoohoo Everyone has different priorities, I say do what you want, it's your car.

Also, the feel of BMWs is a preference as well. And the 335 is very capable on the track, I don't see why it should stay away from it.

Elises are great cars, but they need a bit more power, not to mention a 335 is a way better dual-purpose than an Elise.

I know the 335 handles great and I'm def not saying it should stay away from the track, just I wouldn't gut my interior to do so and how exactly is your car dual purpose with your whole interior sitting in a box on the garage floor? But like you said it's your car I'm not making your car payment...

Sorry..the stock 335 does not handle great..it pushes really bad. Modified it does well...however, without getting some negative camber up front..you are only gonna go so far...so camber plates are a must to get the proper handling thru the corners on the track. I am only talking about track driving here...the stuff you do on freeway onramps and offramps is something totally different.

sflgator, I agree that it's harder to remove weight, but I'm a strong believer in starting with a strong foundation.

So then why did you start out with a 335xi? At least start with the rwd version.

You don't have to rationalize your decisions to a bunch of random people most of whom you will never meet. But if you feel the need to convince these people (and yourself), at least come up with a better reason than that.

I know the 335 handles great and I'm def not saying it should stay away from the track, just I wouldn't gut my interior to do so and how exactly is your car dual purpose with your whole interior sitting in a box on the garage floor? But like you said it's your car I'm not making your car payment...

The back seats literally take 5 mins to put back in and remove, I remove them whenever I go to the track. It's a few pounds, but it also helps me hear what the car is doing better as well.

My everything from the front seats up is intact, aside from the change of the driver's seat. And the trunk? There's actually more cargo room in there now than before.

Hell, if anything, it's even more DD friendly!

Although...there are no seat belts or headrests for rear passengers...

Sorry..the stock 335 does not handle great..it pushes really bad. Modified it does well...however, without getting some negative camber up front..you are only gonna go so far...so camber plates are a must to get the proper handling thru the corners on the track. I am only talking about track driving here...the stuff you do on freeway onramps and offramps is something totally different.

In order to be a offramp champ, I realized you need serious negative camber. I totally own those civics with the cut oe springs.